CHOOSING A WEB PAGE EDITOR
Web pages are written in a programming language called Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML. A web page is actually an HTML file containing code that specifies the text content and graphical layout of the page.
If you wish, you can create HTML files using a text editor to write the HTML code.
But don't worry - you don't need to know HTML to be able to create web pages. Instead, you can use a
web-editing program like Adobe Contribute or Adobe Dreamweaver that lets you design your pages visually while it automatically creates the underlying HTML code for you.
The sections below describe the advantages and disadvantages of these programs:
Adobe Contribute
Adobe Dreamweaver
- Familiar Word-like interface, so relatively easy to learn and use.
- Can be used to edit pages that include PHP code.
- Protects "locked" areas in pages created using Dreamweaver templates.
- Allows a designated site administrator to control which pages other users can edit.
- Free to staff and faculty through Smith's key-served Adobe site licenses.
Disadvantages:
- Page editor only; does not provide site-wide overview or management.
- No access to source code.
- Cannot be used to edit or create interactive components such as drop-down lists, automatic page updates, etc.
- Full-featured page editor, can be used to edit any webpage.
- Provides full site-management capabilities.
- Sitewide file renaming, sitewide find-and-replace.
- Supports use of template pages for efficient development of multi-page websites, ease of sitewide maintenance.
- Tabs for easy switching between layout, source, and preview modes.
- Concurrent view of source code in layout mode.
- Useful synergy with other Adobe products, such as Contribute, Flash, and Fireworks.
- Free to staff and faculty through Smith's key-served Adobe site licenses. Dreamweaver is also installed on all computers in the student computer centers.
Disadvantages:
- More complex user interface, so requires more learning time.
